LG Chromebase hands-on preview

Chrome OS saw a meteoric rise last year with many calling 2014 the year where Chrome OS hits the masses. We’ve seen Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen an All-In-One style Chrome OS running device in the form of LG’s Chromebase and we took a look at it at LG’s booth at CES 2014.

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LG isn’t the biggest player in the PC market, and with a lot of manufacturers currently focusing on Chromebook laptops, the Chromebase gives LG a lot of breathing room without any competition, at least from other Chrome OS running devices.

The LG Chromebase runs Chrome OS (obviously), and inside that relatively svelte package is a 21.5-inch Full HD display, a Haswell Intel Celeron processor which is more than enough to run Chrome OS, 2GB of RAM, and a 16GB SSD. The lack of storage may worry you, but since Chrome OS is built for cloud computing, it won’t really be used for much other than storing some pictures, or music.

As far as connectivity goes, the Chromebase is well served with an HDMI port, a single USB 3.0 port and three USB 2.0 ports. There is also the usual headphone jack and a 1.3MP webcam with keyboard and mouse included in the package as well. It comes in glossy white and matte black and unfortunately the display is not a touch screen.

While some might be scratching their heads at the existence of a desktop style Chrome OS running device, it makes perfect sense given Chrome OS’s popularity in schools where a larger, more stationary device with access to the internet and the ability to easily log in and out of accounts while maintaining all your settings and files thanks to the power of the cloud will definitely come in handy.

The appeal might not only be limited to schools, as LG hopes that it will gain traction with hotels and small businesses. The only thing missing is the price and availability, and LG has yet to announce these vital pieces of information, however, if LG can get the pricing right it looks like it could be a big seller.